Basingstoke Independent Forum, Cllr Paul Harvey, and the Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Gavin James, have been named as the new leaders of the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

The Gazette sat down with the new leaders to discuss the pressing issues of Basingstoke and Deane.

This is the second part of the interview. To read the first part, where the two leaders spoke about plans for free car parking, Camrose and ice rink, click here.

What are your immediate plans about Leisure Park?

PH: We are conscious of what residents have shared with us about their ambitions for the park. We're committed to delivering a new eco-friendly Aquadrome. We're committed to looking at the multi-use stadiums, which can be explored. We've heard the proposals for an indoor skate park. There's lots of really good ideas coming from the community that we want to listen to. But we won't make promises we can't keep. And it's about having a sensible conversation to create a Leisure Park for the people. It isn't about a property commercial deal, this is about a Leisure Park that meets the people's aspirations. So we're coming at it from a very different perspective. But nonetheless, we want it to be as successful.

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GJ: There’s possibly a slight change that people are coming to us and saying we want to see this on the Leisure Park. We will go and explore that and be very honest in the response to that. If it's possible, we will keep exploring it. What we're not doing is going back to lots of consultants over the next nine years and get what they want to go on at the Leisure Park. This is about the borough’s leisure park. We're not coming up with any sort of grand ideas that don't work out because we've been there since 2014.

Do you have a similar approach on the Winklebury regeneration as well?

PH: We know the concerns of the residents. We take them seriously. We will take that on board and have conversations with our partners, Vivid and Hampshire County Council. We're very conscious of what residents are sharing. It's important to us to listen and meet those concerns.

You must have seen the reports about the hospital plans. What are your immediate thoughts?

PH: It’s great news to have an announcement about a future hospital. But we've been here before. This isn't the first time that it's been announced. But we're going to do everything we can to support a new local hospital because that's what people want. We want to believe the government this time and we want to have the confidence that they are going to put the money up to deliver a new hospital.

READ MORE: £800m awarded by government for new Basingstoke hospital

GJ: There is a sense of frustration that we've gone from the Premier League of ‘you'll get your hospital in 2023-24’ to being pushed back to the 2030s. It's a pain that the government is not catching with the infrastructure and we are falling behind.

What are you going to do to improve the business ecosystem in Basingstoke and Deane and stop shops from leaving our town centre?

PH: To be fair, we have got a very strong small business community that we want to celebrate. So we want to say positive things about it. But we also recognise that we got to come up with a town centre regeneration that makes a difference, and it means bringing people into the town centre. It means what the town centre is used for. It isn't just retail, it's about leisure, it's about community that generates vibrant footfall in the town centre. It's about how we regenerate this idea of what a town centre can be for people. And we're serious about that. And then the question is how does that sit in the bigger vision we have for Basingstoke and Deane – the Leisure Park, the Basing View and the Manydown? How do each of these pieces make our town better?

How’s this council going to act on climate change and sustainability?

PH: It runs through the heart of everything. We recognise the climate emergency. We're going to undertake a biodiversity audit of the borough to know where we can make a difference for the ecological emergency and climate change.

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GJ: Every home we look to build – we've got to get as close to zero carbon as possible. I think historically, we've built estates that have trampled over and split up the wildlife. We've got to learn to how to incorporate wildlife into development.

Is there anything else you want to add?

PH: It's being inclusive and being a council that people have confidence in. People should feel it’s their council. They're a part of it that we're not in any way remote. We want to be connected to our communities in a way that got confidence in us and that matters to us.

GJ: It's switching it around. We're here to serve. We're not here to rule the local council.

Finally, are you planning any immediate changes for the borough?

PH: We are considering lots of positive ideas that will make a difference. We're working them up as a new administration and rolling them out over the next few months. Just one example – we're going to set up a youth council because we want to hear from young people.

GJ: And if anyone out there in the Gazette reader land who’s got a brilliant idea, we want to hear from them. We may not be able to do it. But it’s their borough. So if there's ideas coming in we'll take them seriously.

If you have an idea that you think the new administration should consider, write to us at newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk with subject IDEA FOR NEW BASINGSTOKE